De Beers Holds Talks With DDE on Botswana Move
October 09, 13
.JPG) From left: Mahiar Borhanjoo, Malcolm Wall |
The delegation included De Beers CEO, Philip Mellier, Executive Vice President of De Beers Global Sightholder Sales, Varda Shine, Senior Vice President of Global Sightholder Sales, Mahiar Borhanjoo, and Nigel Simson who will replace Borhanjoo who has decided not to relocate to Botswana.
The De Beers and DDE representatives discussed the opportunities for the DDE and Dubai as a distribution and trading center for rough diamonds in the light of Botswana's growing importance.
"Positioned in Dubai between producing countries in Africa and cutting centres in South Asia and the Far East, the DDE is expected to realise a dramatic upsurge in the trade of rough diamonds through its exchange," the DDE said. "The relocation of De Beers aggregation, sales and marketing departments - Diamond Trading Centre (DTC) - to Gaborone will see at least $6 billion of rough diamonds passing through the Botswana diamond center, the majority being traded directly through Dubai."
DMCC Executive Chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “The global diamond trade is continually evolving and Dubai continues to play the central role in this evolution by creating the ideal marketplace for diamantaires to trade with confidence.
"Today Dubai is one of the top three diamond trading centres in the world and DMCC has driven this growth by providing global companies like De Beers with the infrastructure and appropriate platforms to facilitate trade between producing countries in Africa and cutting centres in Asia.
"The relocation of the DTC from the UK to Africa further signals the inevitable shift in the flow of trade from North to South and West to East. At DMCC we have been preparing for this shift and are more than ready to take on the opportunities this presents.”
The transfer of many DTC operations to Botswana is part of a 10-year sales contract signed by De Beers and the Botswana government two years ago.
Peter Meeus, Chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange, commented: “As the key distribution and trading partner for Debswana, the DDE has been engaged in direct talks with De Beers and sightholders to ensure that we are providing the services and products required to absorb the $6 billion of rough diamond sales that has now shifted from London to Gaborone.
"The relocation of DTC is a real victory for Botswana and is a clear statement to the industry that a major transition is taking place and producing countries in Africa are now in the driving seat.”
According to Dubai Customs, in $7.3 billion rough diamonds were imported through Dubai in the first half of this year, and $8.1 billion re-exported.